U.S.

3:02 am

Tue June 23, 2015

Bill Pentak of Panda Power Funds (left), Plant Manager John Martin (center) and Construction Manager Rob Risher (right) stand in front of the construction site for the new Panda Liberty gas power plant in Towanda, Penn. The plant, expected to come online in early 2016, was deliberately sited on top of the Marcellus Shale to take advantage of the cheap, abundant gas.

When you flip on a light switch, odds are, you're burning coal. But as the fracking boom continues to unleash huge quantities of natural gas, the nation's electric grid is changing. Power plants are increasingly turning to this low-cost, cleaner-burning fossil fuel.

Bill Pentak stands in the middle of a construction site, looking up at his company's latest project towering overhead — a new natural gas power plant.

The Two-Way

6:13 pm

Mon June 22, 2015

Taylor Swift is no stranger to positive, even fawning, press coverage. Just this month, there was the story about teenagers using light-up bracelets from a Swift concert to flag down help when they were trapped inside their car after a crash. The headline from MTV read "Taylor Swift Saved Three Teens' Lives — Literally."

Local food enthusiasts have been trying to make the case that buying food from farmers nearby supports local economies, boosts food security and is better for the environment.

But so far, "local" food still makes up a pretty small fraction of what Americans eat. And given that most agriculture in the U.S. is geared toward producing food crops — from corn to soybeans to almonds — for the global market, it doesn't seem likely that will change.

Law

2:39 pm

Mon June 22, 2015

Raisin farmer Marvin Horne stands in a field of grapevines planted in 1918 next to his home in Kerman, Calif. Horne was elated by Monday's Supreme Court decision. "It's just an affirmation in our Constitution and the American way of life," he said.

The Two-Way

2:13 pm

Mon June 22, 2015

Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras arrives for a meeting with European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker before an EU summit in Brussels on Monday. He's hoping a new Greek proposal will end the deadlock on a bailout for Greece's economy.

Greece's finance minister says European leaders have, in principle, accepted a new proposal from Athens that could pave the way for another installment of a multibillion-dollar bailout. The move could stave off a Greek default on its debt obligations and avert an exit from the eurozone — at least for now.

We hate to break it to you, Mr. Leprechaun, but someone really is after your Lucky Charms: General Mills.

Or more specifically, it's after the artificial colorings used to give the cereal its trademark rainbow-colored marshmallow shapes. General Mills on Monday announced it will remove artificial colors and flavors from all of its cereals.

People who love to craft sparkly holiday décor and make their own milk carton citrus soaps have looked to Martha Stewart for more than 20 years. And today, the upscale DIY queen's company is at the center of what Stewart calls "a transformational merger."

Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia says in a statement that it has agreed to be acquired by Sequential Brands Group.

Economy

2:59 am

Mon June 22, 2015

Demonstrators hold flags and banners during a protest march in solidarity with Greece in Brussels on Sunday. Heads of state in the eurozone will meet in Brussels on Monday for a special summit to discuss the financial crisis with Greece.

European leaders hold an emergency summit in Brussels on Monday in an effort to prevent Greece from defaulting on its debts. Greece owes the International Monetary Fund $1.8 billion by the end of this month, and it needs Europe's help to make the payment. But the Athens government is refusing to commit to an economic overhaul package that officials are demanding.

Greece has come close to default many times before — only to work out a last-minute compromise with its creditors. This time, though, it faces much longer odds.

New York state's Seneca Lake is the heart of the Finger Lakes, a beautiful countryside of steep glacier-carved hills and long slivers of water with deep beds of salt. It's been mined on Seneca's shore for more than a century.

The Texas company Crestwood Midstream owns the mine now, and stores natural gas in the emptied-out caverns. It has federal approval to increase the amount, and it's seeking New York's OK to store 88 million gallons of propane as well.

Goats and Soda

3:39 am

Sat June 20, 2015

A worker at Boka Tobacco auction floors displays some of the tobacco crop, in Harare, Zimbabwe, Tuesday May 14, 2013. The country's tobacco selling season kicked off in February and to date tobacco worth over $400 million dollars has been sold to buyers mostly from China and the European Union.

Noisy trolleys roll bales of tobacco on and off the auction floors in Harare, Zimbabwe's capital. Here they call it "green gold." Some of the country's estimated 100,000 small-scale tobacco farmers look on, hoping for profitable sales.

Auctioneers, quoting prices at high speed, pace up and down rows of extra-large jute-covered bundles, with yellow tobacco leaves spilling out.

Julie Hamp — Toyota Motor Corp.'s first senior female executive who was appointed head of public relations just weeks ago — has been arrested in Japan for allegedly importing the prescription painkiller oxycodone in violation of the country's narcotics laws.

A total of 57 pills were discovered by Japanese customs officials on June 11 inside a package that Hamp mailed to herself from Kentucky, declaring the contents to be a necklace, according to Japanese news reports.

Nintendo's Mario games, in their various forms and genres have been played around the world by hundreds of millions of people. In the original, Mario is a plumber who must speed through the Mushroom Kingdom to rescue Princess Toadstool.

The game turns 30 this year. Its famed creator, Shigeru Miyamoto, was in Los Angeles this week at the big Electronic Entertainment Expo video game conference to promote the latest version of the game Super Mario Maker.

Shigeru Miyamoto is the creator of many of Nintendo's iconic video game franchises, including Mario Bros., Donkey Kong and The Legend of Zelda. NPR's Laura Sydell interviewed the 62-year-old designer at the Electronic Entertainment Expo in Los Angeles this week.

Miyamoto spoke, through an interpreter, about the origins of his famous characters, how his life experiences inspire his creations and why Nintendo's latest console, the Wii U, failed to take off.

The federal government's new rules aimed at preventing explosive oil train derailments are sparking a backlash from all sides.

The railroads, oil producers and shippers say some of the new safety requirements are unproven and too costly, yet some safety advocates and environmental groups say the regulations aren't strict enough and still leave too many people at risk.

The Two-Way

12:46 pm

Thu June 18, 2015

Brian Williams won't return to the anchor's chair at NBC Nightly News. Williams is being replaced by Lester Holt, the broadcast's interim anchor, four months after being suspended for misrepresenting his experiences covering the war in Iraq, NBC said Thursday in a statement.

Williams will return to MSNBC, where he was an anchor from 1996 to 2004. There, he will anchor breaking news and special reports, the network said. He will begin his new role in mid-August.